Birmingham's religious community rallies after killing of Trayvon Martin

The Rev. Cedric Hatcher, director of the Saving Our Next Generation Ministry, wore a giant replica of a Skittles bag to draw attention to the killing of Trayvon Martin. With a Bible in hand, he joined leaders at a rally in Kelly Ingram Park. (The Birmingham News/Beverly Taylor)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The Rev. Cedric Hatcher, director of the Saving Our Next Generation Ministry, wanted to dramatize his outrage.

He asked a sign-making company to create a giant front and back banner that he could wear to protest the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, 17, who was shot and killed Feb. 26 by a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Fla.

Martin, who had walked to a convenience store wearing a hoodie to buy Skittles and iced tea, was killed by George Zimmerman, 28, who said Martin looked suspicious walking through the gated community and confronted him.

The front of Hatcher’s sign is a torso-length replica of a Skittles candy bag. The back says, “RIP: Stop the Violence.” Hatcher wore the sign, along with a hoodie, to a rally on Tuesday in Kelly Ingram Park.

Hatcher and other religious activists have gravitated to the case of Martin to reignite interest in the struggle for civil rights.

Martin has become a symbol of stereotyping, racism and black victims of gun violence.

“He was stereotyped by the guy who shot him because of the hoodie,” Hatcher said.

The Martin case has become a national rallying point for protests, including among civil rights activist ministers in Birmingham.

“We’re concerned about the issues of injustice everywhere,” said Bishop Calvin Woods, president of the Birmingham chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

“The church is going to have to be revived again,” said Myrna Jackson, a member of 45th Street Baptist Church and first vice president of the Metro Birmingham Branch of the NAACP, “They’re going to have to do what was done in the 1960s.”

Hatcher said he routinely helps officiate at the funerals of young black men gunned down in Birmingham.

“I buried 21 young people last year,” he said.

Hatcher, Jackson, Woods and other activists try to generate public concern and outrage about those cases, often without success.

“They haven’t been ignored,” Jackson said. “We have had marches, we have had rallies, we’ve had candlelight vigils.”

The Martin case has been interpreted by many black leaders as an abuse of power, with a black victim not receiving justice, Jackson said. “When it’s wrong, we want to make it right,” she said. “We’re just asking that the right thing be done.”

More Than Conquerors Faith Church, 1327 Dennison Ave. Southwest, will have a forum to discuss the Martin case today at 4 p.m.

Woods plans to keep Birmingham focused on the Martin case and other cases of victims of violent crime with a “March of Recommital” on April 4, starting in front of Birmingham City Hall at Linn Park. He has also arranged for a procession of hearses by Birmingham funeral homes on April 10, starting at Abyssinia Baptist Church in Ensley. Funeral homes have agreed to provide nine hearses that activists can decorate with anti-crime slogans, he said.

The Martin case has helped galvanize action to mobilize people and overcome apathy, said Hatcher, an associate minister at St. James Missionary Baptist Church.

Allegations of racial stereotyping by Zimmerman — who has a Hispanic mother and white father — have added fuel to the fires of outrage.

Most homicides in Birmingham involve black male victims shot by black male assailants, according to Birmingham crime statistics. But the attention drawn to the racially charged Martin case could be turned toward the larger societal problems of black-on-black violence, too, Hatcher said.

Martin had been on a 10-day suspension from high school after school officials found traces of marijuana in a bag in his backpack, his family acknowledged.

Woods said that had no bearing on the case. “Even if he had a truckload, that was no reason to kill him,” Woods said.

Zimmerman told the 911 dispatcher that he was going to follow Martin, who he deemed was “up to no good.” Zimmerman’s account to police said he lost sight of Martin, then returned to his car. He told police Martin came up behind him, they argued and then Martin hit Zimmerman and slammed his head on the sidewalk.

Authorities cited Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which allows the use of deadly force in self-defense, as the reason why Zimmerman had not been arrested in the case.

Hatcher and Woods said those rallying for justice for Martin want to see the shooter charged. “There has been no justice,” Hatcher said. “Justice needs to be done.”